Roberts: `I'm Not An Ideologue'

Chief Justice Nominee Tries To Assuage Concerns Of Democrats

September 16, 2005|By Jill Zuckman Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON — Judge John G. Roberts Jr. tried to reassure wavering Senate Democrats on Thursday that he is not a hard-edged ideologue, as some of them fear, but could be counted on to respect the rule of law as chief justice of the United States.

During Roberts' fourth and final day before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrats continued to express deep reservations about his commitment to civil rights and views on other high-profile issues, while praising his "brilliance" and "amazing knowledge of the law."

Despite Democratic worries, Roberts' confirmation as the 17th chief justice is all but assured with what is likely to be unanimous Republican support. The Judiciary Committee plans to vote on his nomination next Thursday, and the full Senate will debate and vote on it the following week.

Roberts, 50, who grew up in Indiana, is expected to take his seat on the bench in time for the start of the next Supreme Court session on Oct. 3.

Even so, Democrats made one last stab at trying to understand what Roberts believes in, all the while expressing a tortured sense of anxiety about the decision before them.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., told Roberts he has awakened in the middle of the night trying to decide how to vote.

"You will, in all likelihood, affect every one of our lives in many ways for a whole generation," Schumer said. "So this isn't just rolling the dice. It's betting the whole house."

And Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., described herself and other senators as "struggling."

"I don't really know what I'm going to do," Feinstein said, asking the nominee, "What kind of a justice would you be, John Roberts?"

Roberts has been a federal appeals judge for about two years after a career as a prominent Supreme Court attorney. In what sounded like a closing argument of sorts, he told the committee that he would decide cases according to the law without regard for special interests.

"I think if you looked at what I've done since I took the judicial oath, that should convince you that I'm not an ideologue," Roberts told Schumer. "And you and I agree that that's not the sort of person we want on the Supreme Court."